What They Said: The West Bengal Elections

India Real Time presents a round-up of commentary and analysis of one of the key news events this week — the civic elections across West Bengal in which the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress inflicted a crushing defeat on the ruling Left parties by winning a two-thirds majority in the 141-member Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls.

The civic polls, projected as the semi-finals before the assembly elections next year, have established Ms. Banerjee’s stature in West Bengal as well as raised the question of whether the Left’s loss and Mamata’s win will be beneficial for Bengal and India.

Sumit Mitra of the Hindustan Times says many voters across the state would like the Left to be thrown out of power but at do same time do not want Ms. Banerjee to lead the charge.

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“If she plays cautiously she’ll still be the real scorer in the final but it will be a winning team of mixed jerseys, leaving room for leadership tussles in the future…Much depends on her ability to bind down the Congress to a commitment that it will not demand more than a certain number of seats in the assembly elections,” he wrote on Friday.

“The big picture emerging out of this municipal poll is Banerjee’s growing, not only in denting the Left but also sinking her UPA ally in select pockets,” he wrote on Friday.

The Trinamool Congress increased its 2005 tally from 42 to 95, an impressive jump of 53 seats. The Left Front, which controlled the Kolkata Municipal Corporation from 2005 to May 2010, was reduced from 75 to 33 seats.

“Given her present popularity, she might be sensing a new political reality of marginalizing not only the Left, but the Congress as well,” Mr. Nagchoudhury added.

A report published in the Times of India said Mamata Banerjee plans to add a new flavor to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation through a blend of the old and new, of experience and the exuberance of youth.

“Realizing that a good performance as civic administrator is key to her winning the 2011 assembly polls, she is determined to give Kolkata a dynamic civic administration, which will not only cater to essential civic services, but at the same change the entire look of the city,” Saikat Ray of the Times of India said.

According to a report in the Economic Times, “Mamata Banerjee has done the Left a huge favor by showing it the limits of its current strategy…what the Left needs is a constructive agenda to transform people’s lives for the better, taking advantage of the creative opportunities thrown up by globalization and India’s fast growth.”

The Hindu said that despite the erosion of popular support for the Left Front, going it alone is not a viable option for the Trinamool Congress.

“So, after accusing the Congress party of being in league with the CPI(M) in the run-up to the municipal elections, Ms. Banerjee has opened a line to the Congress, expressing faith in its top leadership and hoping to maintain relations with the United Progressive Alliance government. However, the volatile Ms Banerjee can always make things difficult for herself, just as she does for her allies,” the report said.

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India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.